Post deposition treatments for cvd cobalt films

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention provide methods for forming materials on a substrate used for metal gate and other applications. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a cobalt stack over a barrier layer disposed on a substrate by depositing a cobalt layer during a deposition process, exposing the cobalt layer to a plasma to form a plasma-treated cobalt layer during a plasma process, and repeating the cobalt deposition process and the plasma process to form the cobalt stack containing a plurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers. The method further includes exposing the cobalt stack to an oxygen source gas to form a cobalt oxide layer from an upper portion of the cobalt stack during a surface oxidation process and heating the remaining portion of the cobalt stack to a temperature within a range from about 300° C. to about 500° C. to form a crystalline cobalt film during a thermal annealing crystallization process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a metallization processfor manufacturing electronic and semiconductor devices, moreparticularly, embodiments relate to methods for depositing and treatingcobalt films on a substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art

Currently, cobalt is a metal of choice for use in multilevelmetallization processes that are crucial to device manufacturing,especially for the PMOS work function layers ofmetal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) as well aswetting layer for direct metal gap fill. The multilevel interconnectfeatures that drive the manufacturing processes have high aspect ratioapertures including contacts, vias, lines, gaps, and other features.Filling these features without creating voids or deforming the featuregeometry is more difficult when the features have higher aspect ratios.Reliable formation of interconnects is also more difficult asmanufacturers strive to increase circuit density and quality.

As the use of cobalt has permeated the marketplace due of a relative lowcost and processing properties, manufacturers of semiconductor, solar,and other electronic devices continue to look for ways to increaseconductivity while improving surface roughness of the cobalt layer andimproving the boundary regions between cobalt and other material layersby reducing cobalt diffusion and agglomeration. Several processingmethods have been developed to manufacture interconnects containingcobalt as feature sizes have decreased. Each processing method mayincrease the likelihood of problematic issues such as cobaltconductivity, cobalt crystalline structure deformation, andagglomeration. Physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapordeposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), electrochemical plating(ECP), electroless deposition, and other deposition techniques have beenutilized for depositing cobalt materials and layers, however, suchcobalt layers generally suffer with the aforementioned issues.

A cobalt layer deposited by a CVD or ALD process generally has greaterelectrical resistivity relative to a similar cobalt layer deposited by aPVD process. Generally, the greater resistivity is due in part to asignificant carbon content (e.g., about 5 atomic percent) as well as ahigh surface roughness of the thin cobalt layer deposited by a CVD orALD process. Such high carbon contents and surface roughnesssignificantly impact the work function of the cobalt layer as a p-typemetal and generally causes a high resistance of the overall integratedgate stack or other device the cobalt layer is contained therein. Cobaltlayers deposited by PVD are often non-conformal and have otherirregularities that affect device performance and stability. Also, highaspect ratio features usually develop voids during the deposition ofcobalt materials by PVD or CVD. Non-vapor deposition processes forcobalt, such as ECP and electroless, generally require exposing thesubstrate and all layers thereon to a liquid bath, such as an aqueoussolution, while depositing the cobalt layer thereon. Also, the cobaltlayers deposited by ECP and electroless deposition processes may oftenhave relative high resistivity and poor conformal films.

Therefore, a need exists for a method for forming cobalt layers, films,and materials and for devices containing such cobalt layers, films, andmaterials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention provide methods for forming and treatingmaterials on a substrate used for metal gate and other applications. Inone embodiment, a method for depositing materials on a substrate surfaceis provided and includes forming a cobalt stack on or over a barrierlayer disposed on a substrate by depositing a cobalt layer during adeposition process, exposing the cobalt layer to a plasma to form aplasma-treated cobalt layer during a plasma process, and repeating thecobalt deposition process and the plasma treatment process to form thecobalt stack containing a plurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers. Themethod further includes exposing the cobalt stack to an oxygen sourcegas to form a cobalt oxide layer from an upper portion of the cobaltstack during a surface oxidation process and heating the remainingportion of the cobalt stack to a crystallization temperature within arange from about 300° C. to about 500° C. during a thermal annealingcrystallization process to form a crystalline cobalt film from theremaining portion of the cobalt stack.

The cobalt oxide layer is usually maintained disposed on the cobaltstack during the thermal annealing crystallization process in order toprevent or substantially prevent agglomeration of the cobalt materialwithin the cobalt stack. In some examples, the crystallizationtemperature may be within a range from about 300° C. to about 425° C.,such as from about 375° C. to about 425° C. The cobalt stack disposed onor over the substrate may be heated at the crystallization temperaturefor a time period within a range from about 5 minutes to about 60minutes, such as about 30 minutes, during the thermal annealingcrystallization process.

In another embodiment, a method for depositing materials on thesubstrate surface is provided and includes forming the cobalt stackcontaining the plurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers over thebarrier layer disposed on the substrate by sequentially depositing andtreating cobalt layers, wherein each cobalt layer is deposited during athermal CVD process and subsequently exposed to a plasma to form each ofthe plasma-treated cobalt layers during a plasma process. Theplasma-treated cobalt layers have a significantly reduced surfaceroughness relative to the non-treated, deposited cobalt layers. Eachcobalt layer may be deposited or formed from a deposition gas containinga cobalt source gas and hydrogen gas (H₂) during the thermal CVDprocess.

In some examples, the cobalt stack disposed on or over the substrate maybe maintained at or heated to a temperature within a range from about200° C. to about 500° C., such as from about 250° C. to about 350° C.,for a time period of about 60 seconds or less, such as within a rangefrom about 5 seconds to about 60 seconds during the surface oxidationprocess, such as a flash oxidation process. In other examples of thesurface oxidation process, the cobalt stack disposed on or over thesubstrate may be exposed to the air and maintained at ambienttemperature or room temperature (about 18° C.-25° C., for example, about20° C.) or heated to a temperature within a range from about 20° C. toabout 500° C. The oxygen source gas may contain an oxygen sourcecompound selected from oxygen gas (O₂), air, enriched air, atomic oxygen(O), ozone, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, water vapor, derivativesthereof, plasmas thereof, or combinations thereof. The cobalt oxidelayer may have a thickness within a range from about 5 Å to about 30 Å,such as from about 10 Å to about 20 Å, for example, about 15 Å.

The cobalt oxide layers described herein contain cobalt oxide materialswhich are electrically conducting materials. These cobalt oxidematerials usually have a greater resistivity compared to the resistivityof metallic cobalt. For example, a cobalt oxide layer of about 100 Å mayhave a resistivity within a range from about 1 Ω-cm to about 10 Ω-cm,while a metallic cobalt layer of about 100 Å may have a resistivitywithin a range from about 20 μΩ-cm to about 40 μΩ-cm. In someembodiments, the resistivity of the cobalt oxide materials containedwithin the cobalt oxide layer is desirable or acceptable for certainapplications including some high gate stack applications. Therefore, insome embodiments, a contact film may be directly deposited, plated, orotherwise formed on or over the silicon oxide layer. However, in otherapplications, the cobalt oxide materials contained within the cobaltoxide layer may cause undesirable or unacceptable resistance within ahigh gate stack. Therefore, in other embodiments described herein, thecobalt oxide layer may be exposed to at least one treatment process orother process to remove, disrupt or interrupt, breech, and/or otherwisebreak or separate the cobalt oxide material contained within the cobaltoxide layer prior to depositing the contact film.

In one embodiment, the cobalt oxide layer may be exposed to a reducingplasma or agent to form a metallic cobalt layer by chemically reducingthe cobalt oxide material to metallic cobalt during an optional step ofthe process. In some examples, the cobalt oxide layer may be exposed toa hydrogen plasma during a plasma treatment process. The hydrogen plasmamay be ignited, generated, or otherwise formed at a frequency of 40 MHzby a VHF RF plasma generator.

In another embodiment, a conductive metallic layer may be deposited,plated, or otherwise formed on or over the cobalt oxide layer disposedover the crystalline cobalt film during another optional step of theprocess. The conductive metallic layer may contain a metal such asaluminum, copper, titanium, alloys thereof, or combinations thereof.Subsequently, the conductive metallic layer contained on the substratemay be heated to a predetermined temperature while metal from theconductive metallic layer diffuses into the cobalt oxide layer and thecrystalline cobalt film during a thermal annealing process. The diffusedmetal from the conductive metallic layer reduces the resistivity of thecobalt oxide layer and the crystalline cobalt film. During the thermalannealing process, the conductive metallic layer may be heated to atemperature within a range from about 200° C. to about 600° C. The metalof the conductive metallic layer may reflow to form void-free gap fillduring the thermal annealing process.

In some examples, each of the cobalt layers may be deposited from adeposition gas containing a cobalt source gas and hydrogen gas during athermal CVD process. The substrate may be heated to a temperature withina range from about 50° C. to about 400° C., such as from about 100° C.to about 250° C., during the thermal CVD process. In one example, thecobalt source gas contains dicobalt hexacarbonyl butylacetylene (CCTBA).Each of the cobalt layers may be exposed to the plasma to form theplasma-treated cobalt layers during a plasma treatment process. Theplasma is generally a reducing plasma and may contain or be formed of areagent, such as ammonia (NH₃), hydrogen (H₂), hydrazine (N₂H₄), diazene(N₂H₂), an ammonia/hydrogen mixture, derivatives thereof, orcombinations thereof. In some examples, each cobalt layer may be exposedto the hydrogen plasma for a time period within a range from about 10seconds to about 180 seconds, such as from about 10 seconds to about 90seconds, such as from about 30 seconds to about 90 seconds, during theplasma treatment process post each cycle of the deposition process, suchas the thermal CVD process.

Examples provide that the cobalt stack may generally have a carbonconcentration of about 3 at % (atomic weight percent) or less. In someexamples, the cobalt stack may have a thickness within a range fromabout 80 Å to about 120 Å and a resistivity within a range from about 20μΩ-cm to about 40 μΩ-cm. In one example, the cobalt stack has athickness of about 100 Å and a resistivity of about 30 μΩ-cm. In otherexamples, the cobalt stack may have a thickness within a range fromabout 450 Å to about 750 Å and a resistivity within a range from about 5μΩ-cm to about 20 μΩ-cm. In one example, the cobalt stack has athickness of about 600 Å and a resistivity of about 12 μΩ-cm.

In some examples, the cobalt stack contains a single plasma-treatedcobalt layer. In many examples, the cobalt stack contains 2 or moreplasma-treated cobalt layer. For example, the plurality ofplasma-treated cobalt layers within the cobalt stack may contain atleast 3 plasma-treated cobalt layers and may contain up to about 30plasma-treated cobalt layers. In other examples, the cobalt stackcontains more than 30 plasma-treated cobalt layers. For example, thecobalt stack may contain a single plasma-treated cobalt layer and have athickness of about 20 Å, while in other examples, the cobalt stack maycontain 3 plasma-treated cobalt layers and have a thickness of about 60Å or contain 5 plasma-treated cobalt layers and have a thickness ofabout 100 Å.

The plasma treatment process may be utilized to smooth or reduce thesurface roughness of the cobalt layers so that the plasma-treated cobaltlayers have less surface roughness than non-treated, deposited cobaltlayers. A cobalt stack containing plasma-treated cobalt layers generallyhas a surface roughness of at least 20% less than the surface roughnessof a cobalt stack containing non-treated cobalt layers which have notbeen exposed to the plasma treatment process. In one comparativeexample, a cobalt stack containing 5 plasma-treated cobalt layers has athickness of about 100 Å and a surface roughness of about 1.1 nm, whilea cobalt stack containing 5 non-treated cobalt layers has a thickness ofabout 100 Å and a surface roughness of about 1.5 nm. Thus, the cobaltstack containing plasma-treated cobalt layers has a surface roughness ofabout 27% less than the surface roughness of the cobalt stack containingnon-treated cobalt layers.

A contact film, such as a gate contact film, may be deposited, plated,or otherwise formed on or over the silicon oxide layer subsequent theflash oxidation process and the thermal annealing crystallizationprocess. The contact film contains a conductive material such as acontact metal that includes copper, aluminum, tungsten, titanium, alloysthereof, or combinations thereof. In some examples, the contact film maycontain a seed layer and a bulk layer. Alternatively, the conductivematerials of the contact film may be directly deposited on the cobaltstack, the cobalt layer, the plasma-treated cobalt layer, the cobaltoxide layer, the crystalline cobalt film, or the metallic cobalt layer,such as by an ECP process.

In many embodiments described herein, the plasma generated during theplasma treatment process, as well as during other plasma processes, isgenerated by a VHF RF plasma generator at a frequency of 40 MHz. SuchVHF plasma has been utilized to achieve many improvements over otherplasma treatment processes conducted with RF plasma at frequenciesoutside of the VHF range, such as at a frequency of 13.56 MHz. Theplasma-treated cobalt layers, the cobalt stacks, the crystalline cobaltfilms, the metallic cobalt layers, and other materials formed byprocesses utilizing the VHF plasma as described herein have a reductionin resistivity, surface roughness, carbon content, and plasma damagerelative to similar materials formed by processes relying on RF plasmaat a frequency outside of the VHF range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the inventioncan be understood in detail, a more particular description of theinvention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 depicts a flow chart illustrating a process according toembodiments described herein; and

FIGS. 2A-2J depict schematic views of substrates at different processsteps according to various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention provide methods for forming and treatingmaterials on a substrate used for metal gate applications and othersemiconductor, solar, or electronic device applications. In oneembodiment, a method for depositing materials on a substrate surface isprovided and includes forming a cobalt stack on or over a barrier layerdisposed on a substrate by depositing a cobalt layer during a depositionprocess, exposing the cobalt layer to a plasma to form a plasma-treatedcobalt layer during a plasma process, and repeating the cobaltdeposition process and the plasma treatment process to form the cobaltstack. Generally, the cobalt stack contains a plurality ofplasma-treated cobalt layers, but alternatively, the cobalt depositionprocess and the plasma treatment process may be performed once to form asingle plasma-treated cobalt layer as the cobalt stack.

The method further includes exposing the cobalt stack to an oxygensource gas to form a cobalt oxide layer from an upper portion of thecobalt stack during a surface oxidation process. The method alsoincludes heating the remaining portion of the cobalt stack contained onthe substrate to a crystallization temperature during a thermalannealing crystallization process to form a crystalline cobalt film fromthe remaining cobalt stack. Subsequently, in various embodimentsdescribed herein, a contact film may be deposited, plated, or otherwiseformed on or over the cobalt oxide layer, a metallic cobalt layer, thecrystalline cobalt film, the cobalt stack, or a variant thereof disposedon the substrate.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating process 100 which may be utilized forfabricating or manufacturing devices or otherwise forming variousmaterials in interconnects or other devices, as described by embodimentsherein. Process 100 includes various steps 110-180 which may beconducted or performed while forming substrate 200, which is depicted inFIGS. 2A-2J at different stages of process 100. FIGS. 2F, 2H, and 2Jdepict several different examples of substrate 200 upon completingseveral variations of process 100, as described by embodiments herein.In one embodiment, process 100 includes depositing or otherwise formingbarrier layer 210 on substrate 200 (step 110), forming cobalt stack 220on or over barrier layer 210 (step 120), forming cobalt oxide layer 230from an upper portion of cobalt stack 220 during an oxidization process(step 130), forming crystalline cobalt film 240 from the remainingportion of cobalt stack 220 during a thermal annealing crystallizationprocess (step 140), as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2A-2E.

Upon completing thermal annealing crystallization process at step 140,several different process sequences may optionally be performed duringprocess 100. In one embodiment, contact film 280 may be deposited,plated, or otherwise formed on or over cobalt oxide layer 230 disposedon crystalline cobalt film 240 at step 180 immediately after step 140,as depicted in FIGS. 2E-2F.

In another embodiment, subsequent to step 140, step 150 may be conductedduring process 100 by forming metallic cobalt layer 250 from cobaltoxide layer 230 during a reducing plasma treatment, such as a hydrogenplasma treatment, and then conducting step 180 by depositing, plating,or otherwise forming contact film 280 on or over metallic cobalt layer250, as depicted in FIGS. 2E and 2G-2H.

In another embodiment, subsequent to step 140, step 160 may be conductedduring process 100 by depositing, plating, or otherwise formingconductive metallic layer 260 on or over cobalt oxide layer 230 disposedon crystalline cobalt film 240, and then conducting step 170 by heatingconductive metallic layer 260 during a thermal annealing process todiffuse metal into cobalt oxide layer 230 and crystalline cobalt film240 from conductive metallic layer 260, and thereafter, conducting step180 by depositing, plating, or otherwise forming contact film 280 on orover any remaining conductive metallic layer 260, cobalt oxide layer230, doped variants of cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobalt film240, and/or doped variants of crystalline cobalt film 240, as depictedin FIGS. 2E and 2I-2J.

FIG. 2A depicts substrate 200 containing dielectric layer 204 disposedover underlayer 202. Aperture 206 is formed within dielectric layer 204and may be a via, damascene, trough, or other passageway formed therein.Underlayer 202 may be a substrate or wafer, a substrate or wafersurface, a contact layer, an electrode, or another layer depending onthe specific device structure. Dielectric layer 204 may contain adielectric material, such as a low-k dielectric material. In oneexample, dielectric layer 204 contains a low-k dielectric material, suchas a silicon carbide oxide material, or a carbon doped silicon oxidematerial, for example, BLACK DIAMOND® II low-k dielectric material,available from Applied Materials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif.Another example of a suitable material for dielectric layer 204 is asilicon carbide based film formed using chemical vapor deposition (CVD)or plasma enhanced CVD (PE-CVD) processes such as described in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,537,733, 6,790,788, and 6,890,850, which areincorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment, at least one barrier layer or material may bedeposited or otherwise formed on or over a substrate during step 110 ofprocess 100. In one example, FIG. 2B depicts barrier layer 210 disposedon or over substrate 200, over dielectric layer 204, and conformallywithin aperture 206. Barrier layer 210 may contain one layer or multiplelayers and each layer may contain at least one material selected fromtitanium, titanium nitride, tantalum, tantalum nitride, tungsten,tungsten nitride, silicides thereof, derivatives thereof, orcombinations thereof. In some embodiments, barrier layer 210 may containa bilayer of tantalum/tantalum nitride, titanium/titanium nitride, ortungsten/tungsten nitride. Barrier layer 210 may have a thickness withina range from about 5 Å to about 50 Å, such as from about 10 Å to about30 Å, and may be formed or deposited by PVD, ALD, plasma enhanced ALD(PE-ALD), CVD, PE-CVD, pulsed-CVD, or combinations thereof.

In one example, barrier layer 210 contains a lower layer of metallictantalum deposited by a PVD process and an upper layer disposed over thelower layer of tantalum nitride layer deposited by another PVD process.In another example, barrier layer 210 contains a lower layer of metallictantalum deposited by an ALD process and an upper layer disposed overthe lower layer of tantalum nitride layer deposited by a CVD process. Inanother example, barrier layer 210 contains a lower layer of metallictantalum deposited by a PVD process and an upper layer disposed over thelower layer of tantalum nitride layer deposited by a CVD process.

For example, barrier layer 210 may contain tantalum nitride depositedusing a CVD process or an ALD process wherein tantalum-containingcompound or tantalum precursor (e.g., PDMAT) and nitrogen precursor(e.g., ammonia) are reacted. In one embodiment, tantalum and/or tantalumnitride is deposited as barrier layer 210 by an ALD process as describedin commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,780,785, which is hereinincorporated by reference. In one example, a Ta/TaN bilayer may bedeposited as barrier layer 210, such as a metallic tantalum layer and atantalum nitride layer that are independently deposited by ALD, CVD,and/or PVD processes, one layer on top of the other layer, in eitherorder.

In another example, a Ti/TiN bilayer may be deposited as barrier layer210, such as a metallic titanium layer and a titanium nitride layer thatare independently deposited by ALD, CVD, and/or PVD processes, one layeron top of the other layer, in either order. In another example, a W/WNbilayer may be deposited as barrier layer 210, such as a metallictungsten layer and a tungsten nitride layer that are independentlydeposited by ALD, CVD, and/or PVD processes, one layer on top of theother layer, in either order.

In some embodiments, barrier layer 210 may be optionally exposed to apre-treatment process, such as a plasma process or a thermal process,during step 110 or immediately after step 110 prior to conducting step120. Processing gases and/or reagents that may be exposed to substrate200 during plasma or thermal pre-treatment processes include hydrogen(e.g., H₂ or atomic-H), nitrogen (e.g., N₂ or atomic-N), ammonia (NH₃),a hydrogen and ammonia mixture (H₂/NH₃), hydrazine (N₂H₄), diazene(N₂H₂), silane (SiH₄), disilane (Si₂H₆), helium, argon, derivativesthereof, plasmas thereof, or combinations thereof. The processing gasmay flow into the processing chamber or be exposed to the substratehaving a flow rate within a range from about 100 sccm to about 10 slm,such as from about 1 slm to about 6 slm, for example, about 3 slm.

In one embodiment, substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 may be exposed toa plasma to remove contaminants from barrier layer 210 during thepre-treatment process. In some examples, substrate 200 may be positionedwithin a processing chamber and exposed to a processing gas which isignited to form the plasma. The processing gas may contain one gaseouscompound or multiple gaseous compounds. Substrate 200 may be at ambienttemperature or room temperature (about 18° C.-25° C., for example, about23° C.), but is usually preheated to the desired temperature of thesubsequent deposition process. Substrate 200 may be heated to atemperature within a range from about 100° C. to about 400° C., such asfrom about 125° C. to about 350° C., such as from about 150° C. to about300° C., such as about 200° C. or about 250° C.

The processing chamber may produce an in situ plasma or be equipped witha remote plasma source (RPS). In one embodiment, substrate 200 may beexposed to the plasma (e.g., in situ or remotely) for a time periodwithin a range from about 0.5 seconds to about 90 seconds, such as fromabout 10 seconds to about 60 seconds, such as from about 30 seconds toabout 90 seconds. The plasma may be generated or otherwise formed at apower output setting within a range from about 60 watts to about 2,000watts, such as from about 200 watts to about 600 watts or from about 600watts to about 1,200 watts. The processing chamber may generally have aninternal pressure of about 100 Torr or less, such as within a range fromabout 0.1 Torr to about 100 Torr, such as from about 0.5 Torr to about50 Torr, such as from about 1 Torr to about 10 Torr.

In one example, substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 may be exposed to aplasma generated from hydrogen, ammonia, nitrogen, or mixtures thereof.In another example, substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 may be exposedto a plasma generated from hydrogen and ammonia. In another example,substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 may be exposed to a plasma generatedfrom hydrogen, nitrogen, silane, disilane, or mixtures thereof. Inanother example, substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 may be exposed to aplasma generated from hydrogen, nitrogen, argon, helium, or mixturesthereof.

In another embodiment, substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 are exposedto a processing gas to remove contaminants from barrier layer 210 duringa thermal pre-treatment process. The thermal pre-treatment process maybe a rapid thermal process (RTP) or a rapid thermal annealing (RTA)process. Substrate 200 may be positioned within a processing chamber andexposed to at least one processing gas and/or reagent. The processingchamber may be a deposition chamber that may be used for a subsequentdeposition process, such as a PVD chamber, a CVD chamber, or an ALDchamber. Alternatively, the processing chamber may be a thermalannealing chamber, such as the RADIANCE® RTA chamber, commerciallyavailable from Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. Substrate200 may be heated to a temperature within a range from about 25° C. toabout 800° C., such as from about 50° C. to about 400° C., such as fromabout 100° C. to about 300° C. Substrate 200 may be heated for a timeperiod within a range from about 2 minutes to about 20 minutes, such asfrom about 3 minutes to about 10 minutes. For example, substrate 200 maybe heated to about 400° C. for about 5 minutes within the processingchamber.

In one example, substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 may be exposed tohydrogen, ammonia, nitrogen, or mixtures thereof while being heatedwithin the processing chamber. In another example, substrate 200 andbarrier layer 210 may be exposed to an ammonia/hydrogen mixture whilebeing heated within the processing chamber. In another example,substrate 200 and barrier layer 210 may be exposed to hydrogen,nitrogen, silane, disilane, or mixtures thereof while being heatedwithin the processing chamber. In another example, substrate 200 andbarrier layer 210 may be exposed to hydrogen, nitrogen, argon, helium,or mixtures thereof while being heated within the processing chamber.

In another embodiment, cobalt stack 220 containing a cobalt material,such as metallic cobalt or metallic cobalt alloys may be deposited orotherwise formed on or over the substrate during step 120 of process100. In one example, FIG. 2C depicts cobalt stack 220 disposed on orover barrier layer 210 and conformally within aperture 206. Cobalt stack220 is generally a continuous film, but in some examples, may be adiscontinuous film extending across barrier layer 210.

In one embodiment, step 120 provides that cobalt stack 220 may bedeposited or otherwise formed during steps 122-126 of process 100. Forexample, cobalt stack 220 may be formed on or over barrier layer 210 bydepositing a cobalt layer during a deposition process (step 122),exposing the cobalt layer to a plasma to form a plasma-treated cobaltlayer during a plasma process (step 124), and repeating the cobaltdeposition process and the plasma treatment process to form cobalt stack220 containing a plurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers (step 126).

Cobalt stack 220 may be a single treated cobalt layer or non-treatedcobalt layer, but in many embodiments, cobalt stack 220 containsmultiple cobalt layers disposed on or over each other. Generally, cobaltstack 220 contains a plurality of treated cobalt layers, such asplasma-treated cobalt layers, disposed on or over each other, whereas,each cobalt layer is sequentially deposited and treated on or over eachother to form cobalt stack 220. In some examples, cobalt stack 220 maycontain a single plasma-treated cobalt layer. In other examples, theplurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers within cobalt stack 220 maycontain at least 2 or more plasma-treated cobalt layers, such as atleast 3 plasma-treated cobalt layers and may contain up to about 30plasma-treated cobalt layers. In some examples, cobalt stack 220contains more than 30 plasma-treated cobalt layers.

Each cobalt layer may be deposited during a deposition process, such asa CVD process or an ALD process during step 122. In some embodiments,each cobalt layer and/or plasma-treated cobalt layer contained withincobalt stack 220 may have a thickness of about 50 Å or less, such aswithin a range from about 2 Å to about 40 Å, such as from about 5 Å toabout 30 Å, or from about 10 Å to about 25 Å. Therefore, cobalt stack220 may have an overall thickness within a range from about 5 Å to about1,000 Å or greater. In some examples, cobalt stack 220 may have athickness within a range from about 10 Å to about 400 Å, such as fromabout 40 Å to about 200 Å, such as from about 80 Å to about 120 Å, forexample, about 100 Å. In other examples, cobalt stack 220 may have athickness within a range from about 400 Å to about 1,000 Å, such as fromabout 450 Å to about 750 Å, for example, about 600 Å.

Cobalt stack 220 may have a carbon concentration of about 5 at % (atomicweight percent) or less, such as about 3 at % or less, such as about 2at % or less, such as about 1 at % or less, for example, about 0.5 at %or less. In some examples, cobalt stack 220 may have a carbonconcentration within a range from about 0.1 at % to about 3 at %, suchas from about 0.5 at % to about 3 at %, such as from about 0.5 at % toabout 2 at %. In some embodiments, wherein the thickness of cobalt stack220 is less than about 500 Å, such as less than about 200 Å, such asabout 100 Å or less, the resistivity of cobalt stack 220 may be lessthan 60 μΩ-cm, such as about 50 μΩ-cm or less, such as within a rangefrom about 5 μΩ-cm to about 50 μΩ-cm, such as from about 10 μΩ-cm toabout 50 μΩ-cm, such as from about 20 μΩ-cm to about 40 μΩ-cm, forexample, about 30 μΩ-cm.

In many examples, cobalt stack 220 may have a thickness within a rangefrom about 80 Å to about 120 Å and a resistivity within a range fromabout 20 μΩ-cm to about 40 μΩ-cm. In some examples, cobalt stack 220 mayhave a thickness a thickness of about 100 Å and a resistivity of about30 μΩ-cm. In other examples, cobalt stack 220 may have a thicknesswithin a range from about 450 Å to about 750 Å and a resistivity withina range from about 5 μΩ-cm to about 20 μΩ-cm. In one example, cobaltstack 220 may have a thickness of about 600 Å and a resistivity of about12 μΩ-cm.

Each of the cobalt layers forming cobalt stack 220 may independently beexposed to a plasma formed during the post-treatment process at step 124of process 100. The plasma may be formed in situ or remotely during thepost-treatment process. Contaminants from each of the deposited cobaltlayers are removed or reduced while densifying cobalt stack 220 at step124. Each of the cobalt layers forming cobalt stack 220 may be exposedto a reducing agent during the plasma process. Reducing agents that maybe used during the post-treatment process include hydrogen (e.g., H₂ oratomic-H), ammonia (NH₃), a hydrogen and ammonia mixture (H₂/NH₃),nitrogen (e.g., N₂ or atomic-N), hydrazine (N₂H₄), diazene (N₂H₂),derivatives thereof, plasmas thereof, or combinations thereof. Eachcobalt layer forming cobalt stack 220 may be exposed to the plasmaduring the post-treatment process for a time period within a range fromabout 2 seconds to about 300 seconds, such as from about 10 seconds toabout 180 seconds, such as from about 10 seconds to about 90 seconds,such as from about 30 seconds to about 90 seconds, from about 45 secondsto about 75 seconds, for example, about 60 seconds.

The plasma treatment processes described herein provide cobalt stack 220with reduced surface roughness relative to cobalt stack 220 containingnon-treated cobalt layers. The plasma smoothes or reduces the surfaceroughness of the cobalt layers so that the plasma-treated cobalt layershave less surface roughness than non-treated, deposited cobalt layers.Cobalt stack 220 containing plasma-treated cobalt layers generally has asurface roughness of at least 20% less than the surface roughness ofcobalt stack 220 containing non-treated cobalt layers which have notbeen exposed to the plasma treatment process. In one comparativeexample, cobalt stack 220 containing 5 plasma-treated cobalt layers hasa thickness of about 100 Å and a surface roughness of about 1.1 nm,while cobalt stack 220 containing 5 non-treated cobalt layers has athickness of about 100 Å and a surface roughness of about 1.5 nm. Thus,cobalt stack 220 containing plasma-treated cobalt layers has a surfaceroughness of about 27% less than the surface roughness of cobalt stack220 containing non-treated cobalt layers.

In some examples, each cobalt layer forming cobalt stack 220 may beexposed to a hydrogen plasma, formed by igniting hydrogen gas in situ orremotely of the processing chamber. In other examples, each cobalt layerforming cobalt stack 220 may be exposed to an ammonia plasma, formed byigniting ammonia gas in situ or remotely of the processing chamber. Inother examples, each cobalt layer forming cobalt stack 220 may beexposed to a hydrogen/ammonia plasma, formed by igniting a mixture ofhydrogen gas and ammonia gas in situ or remotely of the processingchamber.

The cobalt layers contained within cobalt stack 220 may be deposited bythermal decomposition of a cobalt source gas carried by an inert gasduring step 120. A reducing gas may be co-flowed or alternately pulsedinto the processing chamber along with the cobalt source gas. Thesubstrate may be heated to a temperature within a range from about 50°C. to about 600° C., such as from about 100° C. to about 500° C., suchas from about 200° C. to about 400° C. Alternatively, the cobalt layerscontained within cobalt stack 220 may be deposited by exposing thesubstrate to a cobalt source gas gas in an ALD or CVD process.

Each of the cobalt layers contained within cobalt stack 220 may beformed or deposited by a vapor deposition process, such as CVD, PE-CVD,pulsed-CVD, ALD, PE-ALD, or PVD during step 122. The plasma enhancedvapor deposition process, namely PE-CVD and PE-ALD, may be an in situplasma process within the processing chamber or may be a remote plasmaprocess such that the plasma may be ignited, generated, or otherwiseformed within an RPS and directed into the processing chamber. In oneembodiment, steps 122 and 124 may be performed during a plasma enhancedvapor deposition process, such as PE-CVD and PE-ALD. In many examples,cobalt stack 220 and the cobalt layers contain metallic cobalt.Alternatively, in other examples, cobalt stack 220 and the cobalt layersmay contain one or more cobalt materials, such as metallic cobalt,cobalt silicide, cobalt boride, cobalt phosphide, alloys thereof,derivatives thereof, or combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, cobalt stack 220 and cobalt layers containedtherein may be formed or deposited by simultaneously introducing acobalt precursor and at least one reagent, such as hydrogen gas (H₂),into the processing chamber during a thermal CVD process, a pulsed-CVDprocess, a PE-CVD process, or a pulsed PE-CVD process. In otherembodiments, the cobalt precursor may be introduced into the processingchamber without a reagent during a thermal CVD process, a pulsed-CVDprocess, a PE-CVD process, or a pulsed PE-CVD process. Alternatively, inother embodiments, cobalt stack 220 may be formed or deposited bysequentially introducing a cobalt precursor and at least one reagentinto the processing chamber during a thermal ALD process or a PE-ALDprocess.

The cobalt materials (e.g., metallic cobalt or cobalt alloys) containedwithin cobalt stack 220 and the cobalt layers, as described herein, maybe formed by CVD or ALD processes utilizing suitable cobalt precursorswhich include cobalt carbonyl complexes, cobalt amidinates compounds,cobaltocene compounds, cobalt dienyl complexes, cobalt nitrosylcomplexes, derivatives thereof, complexes thereof, plasmas thereof, orcombinations thereof. In some embodiments, cobalt materials may bedeposited by CVD and ALD processes further described in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,264,846 and 7,404,985, which are hereinincorporated by reference.

In some embodiments, cobalt carbonyl compounds or complexes may beutilized as cobalt precursors for forming the cobalt materials duringthe vapor deposition process. Cobalt carbonyl compounds or complexeshave the general chemical formula (CO)_(x)Co_(y)L_(z), where X may be 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12, Y may be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, and Zmay be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8. The group L is absent, one ligand ormultiple ligands, that may be the same ligand or different ligands, andinclude cyclopentadienyl, alkylcyclopentadienyl (e.g.,methylcyclopentadienyl or pentamethylcyclopentadienyl), pentadienyl,alkylpentadienyl, cyclobutadienyl, butadienyl, ethylene, allyl (orpropylene), alkenes, dialkenes, alkynes, acetylene, butylacetylene,nitrosyl, ammonia, derivatives thereof, complexes thereof, plasmasthereof, or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, dicobalt hexacarbonyl acetyl compounds may be used toform cobalt materials (e.g., cobalt stack 220) during the vapordeposition process. Dicobalt hexacarbonyl acetyl compounds may have thechemical formula of (CO)₆Co₂(RC≡CR′), wherein R and R′ are independentlyselected from hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl,tertbutyl, penta, benzyl, aryl, isomers thereof, derivatives thereof, orcombinations thereof. In one example, dicobalt hexacarbonylbutylacetylene (CCTBA, (CO)₆Co₂(HC≡C^(t)Bu)) is the cobalt precursor.Other examples of dicobalt hexacarbonyl acetyl compounds includedicobalt hexacarbonyl methylbutylacetylene ((CO)₆Co₂(MeC≡C^(t)Bu)),dicobalt hexacarbonyl phenylacetylene ((CO)₆Co₂(HC≡CPh)), hexacarbonylmethylphenylacetylene ((CO)₆Co₂(MeC≡CPh)), dicobalt hexacarbonylmethylacetylene ((CO)₆Co₂(HC≡CMe)), dicobalt hexacarbonyldimethylacetylene ((CO)₆Co₂(MeC≡CMe)), derivatives thereof, complexesthereof, plasmas thereof, or combinations thereof. Other exemplarycobalt carbonyl complexes include cyclopentadienyl cobalt bis(carbonyl)(CpCo(CO)₂), tricarbonyl allyl cobalt ((CO)₃Co(CH₂CH═CH₂)), derivativesthereof, complexes thereof, plasmas thereof, or combinations thereof.

In another embodiment, cobalt amidinates or cobalt amido complexes maybe utilized as cobalt precursors for forming the cobalt materials duringthe vapor deposition process. Cobalt amido complexes have the generalchemical formula (RR′N)_(x)Co, where X may be 1, 2, or 3, and R and R′are independently hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, alkyl, silyl,alkylsilyl, derivatives thereof, or combinations thereof. Some exemplarycobalt amido complexes include bis(di(butyldimethylsilyl)amido) cobalt(((BuMe₂Si)₂N)₂Co), bis(di(ethyldimethylsilyl)amido) cobalt(((EtMe₂Si)₂N)₂Co), bis(di(propyldimethylsilyl)amido) cobalt(((PrMe₂Si)₂N)₂Co), bis(di(trimethylsilyl)amido) cobalt(((Me₃Si)₂N)₂Co), tris(di(trimethylsilyl)amido) cobalt (((Me₃Si)₂N)₃Co),derivatives thereof, complexes thereof, plasmas thereof, or combinationsthereof.

Exemplary cobalt precursors include methylcyclopentadienyl cobaltbis(carbonyl) (MeCpCo(CO)₂), ethylcyclopentadienyl cobalt bis(carbonyl)(EtCpCo(CO)₂), pentamethylcyclopentadienyl cobalt bis(carbonyl)(Me₅CpCo(CO)₂), dicobalt octa(carbonyl) (Co₂(CO)₈), nitrosyl cobalttris(carbonyl) ((ON)Co(CO)₃), bis(cyclopentadienyl) cobalt,(cyclopentadienyl) cobalt (cyclohexadienyl), cyclopentadienyl cobalt(1,3-hexadienyl), (cyclobutadienyl) cobalt (cyclopentadienyl),bis(methylcyclopentadienyl) cobalt, (cyclopentadienyl) cobalt(5-methylcyclopentadienyl), bis(ethylene) cobalt(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl), cobalt tetracarbonyl iodide, cobalttetracarbonyl trichlorosilane, carbonyl chloridetris(trimethylphosphine) cobalt, cobalttricarbonyl-hydrotributylphosphine, acetylene dicobalt hexacarbonyl,acetylene dicobalt pentacarbonyl triethylphosphine, derivatives thereof,complexes thereof, plasmas thereof, or combinations thereof.

In some examples, alternative reagents, including reducing agents, maybe used with cobalt precursors for forming the cobalt materials duringthe vapor deposition process as described herein. These alternativereagents may include hydrogen (e.g., H₂ or atomic-H), nitrogen (e.g., N₂or atomic-N), ammonia (NH₃), hydrazine (N₂H₄), a hydrogen and ammoniamixture (H₂/NH₃), borane (BH₃), diborane (B₂H₆), triethylborane (Et₃B),silane (SiH₄), disilane (Si₂H₆), trisilane (Si₃H₈), tetrasilane(Si₄H₁₀), methyl silane (SiCH₆), dimethylsilane (SiC₂H₈), phosphine(PH₃), derivatives thereof, plasmas thereof, or combinations thereof.

In one example, cobalt stack 220 containing metallic cobalt is depositedor otherwise formed by simultaneously exposing substrate 200 to a cobaltsource gas and a reducing agent during a thermal CVD process. In anotherexample, cobalt stack 220 containing metallic cobalt is deposited bysimultaneously exposing substrate 200 to a cobalt source gas and areducing agent gas during a plasma enhanced CVD process. The plasmasource may be an in situ plasma source within the CVD chamber or an RPSpositioned outside of the CVD chamber. The cobalt source gas may beformed by passing a carrier gas (e.g., nitrogen or argon) through anampoule of a cobalt precursor (e.g., CCTBA). The reducing agent gas maybe a single compound (e.g., H₂), and therefore have no carrier gas.Alternatively, the reducing agent gas may be formed by passing a carriergas through an ampoule of a reducing agent.

The ampoule may be heated depending on the cobalt precursor or reducingagent used during the process. In one example, an ampoule containing acobalt precursor, such as a dicobalt hexacarbonyl acetyl compound orother cobalt carbonyl compound (e.g., (CO)_(x)Co_(y)L_(z)) may be heatedto a temperature within a range from about 30° C. to about 500° C. Thecobalt source gas may generally have a flow rate within a range fromabout 100 sccm (standard cubic centimeters per minute) to about 2,000sccm, such as from about 200 sccm to about 1,000 sccm, such as fromabout 300 sccm to about 700 sccm, for example, about 500 sccm. Thereducing agent gas may generally have a flow rate within a range fromabout 0.5 slm (standard liters per minute) to about 10 slm, such as fromabout 1 slm to about 8 slm, such as from about 2 slm to about 6 slm. Inone example, reducing agent gas is hydrogen and has a flow rate within arange from about 2 slm to about 6 slm, such as about 4 slm.

The cobalt source gas and the reducing agent gas (e.g., H₂) may becombined to form a deposition gas prior to, while, or subsequent toentering the processing chamber during a deposition process to depositcobalt stack 220 over or on containing barrier layer 210. Substrate 200containing barrier layer 210 may be positioned within a processingchamber and heated to a temperature within a range from about 25° C. toabout 800° C., such as from about 50° C. to about 400° C., such as fromabout 100° C. to about 250° C., such as about 150° C. Once at apredetermined temperature, substrate 200 may be exposed to thedeposition gas containing the cobalt source gas and the reducing agentgas for a time period within a range from about 0.1 seconds to about 120seconds, such as from about 1 second to about 60 seconds, such as fromabout 5 seconds to about 30 seconds. In some examples, substrate 200containing barrier layer 210 may be heated to about 150° C. for about 10minutes within the processing chamber while being exposed to adeposition gas and forming cobalt stack 220 during a thermal CVDprocess. In one example, the deposition gas contains dicobalthexacarbonyl butylacetylene (CCTBA) as a cobalt source gas and hydrogengas (H₂) as the reducing agent gas.

In another embodiment, the steps 122 and 124 for depositing and treatingeach cobalt layer are repeated at least once, but usually multipletimes, until achieving a desirable or predetermined thickness of cobaltstack 220 at step 126. The cobalt deposition process and the plasmatreatment process may be performed once to form a single layer of cobaltstack 220, or performed multiple times to form multiple treated cobaltlayers, such as from 2 cobalt layers to about 10 cobalt layers, to about24 cobalt layers, or more layers to form cobalt stack 220. Each cobaltlayer may be deposited having a thickness within a range from about 2 Åto about 50 Å, such as from about 3 Å to about 25 Å, such as from about4 Å to about 20 Å, such as from about 5 Å to about 10 Å, such as about 7Å or about 8 Å. In one example, four cycles of the deposition and plasmatreatment processes to form treated cobalt layers are sequentiallyperformed to form cobalt stack 220 with a thickness of about 100 Å andcontaining four treated cobalt layers. In another example, twenty fourcycles of the deposition and plasma treatment processes to form treatedcobalt layers are sequentially performed to form cobalt stack 220 with athickness of about 600 Å and containing twenty four treated cobaltlayers. At step 126, once the desirable or predetermined thickness ofcobalt stack 220 is achieved, step 120 may be ceased and substrate 200may progress to step 130 or to another fabrication or treatment process.

In other embodiments, cobalt oxide layer 230 may be formed by oxidizingat least a portion of cobalt stack 220 during a surface oxidationprocess at step 130 of process 100. In one embodiment, as depicted inFIG. 2D, cobalt oxide layer 230 is formed from an upper portion ofcobalt stack 220 (e.g., upper surfaces of cobalt stack 220) andconformally formed within aperture 206 disposed on substrate 200. Cobaltoxide layer 230 is usually maintained disposed on cobalt stack 220during the thermal annealing crystallization process at step 140 inorder to prevent or substantially prevent agglomeration of the cobaltmaterial within cobalt stack 220. In an alternative embodiment, cobaltstack 220 may be completely oxidized or substantially oxidized andtherefore consumed to form cobalt oxide layer 230.

Cobalt oxide layer 230 may be a continuous film extending across thefield of substrate 200, but in some examples, cobalt oxide layer 230 maybe a discontinuous film extending across the field of substrate 200. Thethickness of cobalt oxide layer 230 depends on the particularoxidization process and parameters of such process utilized to form thecobalt oxide material. Therefore, the thickness of cobalt oxide layer230 may be within a range from about 2 Å to about 50 Å, such as fromabout 4 Å to about 40 Å, such as such as from about 5 Å to about 30 Å.In some examples, the thickness of cobalt oxide layer 230 may be withina range from about 5 Å to about 15 Å, such as from about 8 Å to about 12Å, for example, about 10 Å, while in other examples, the thickness maybe within a range from about 15 Å to about 20 Å, such as about 17 Å orabout 18 Å.

In one embodiment, cobalt oxide layer 230 may be formed by exposingcobalt stack 220 to air, such as ambient air, during the surfaceoxidization process at step 130. Cobalt stack 220 may be exposed to theair at ambient temperature or room temperature (about 18° C.-25° C., forexample, about 20° C.) to form cobalt oxide layer 230 from an upperportion of cobalt stack 220, such as an upper surface of cobalt stack220. The air generally contains oxygen (O₂) at a volumetricconcentration within a range from about 18% to about 24%, such as fromabout 20% to about 22%, for example, about 20.95% or about 21%. Duringthe air-exposed surface oxidization process of this embodiment, the airand or substrate 200 may be at room or ambient temperature, such as thetemperature of a manufacturing or fabrication environment, which may bewithin a range from about 15° C. to about 26° C., such as from about 18°C. to about 22° C., such as about 20° C. Substrate 200 containing cobaltstack 220 may be exposed to the air or oxygen enriched air during theair-exposed surface oxidization process for a time period within a rangefrom about 5 minutes to about 24 hours, such as from about 1 hour toabout 10 hours. The thickness of cobalt oxide layer 230 formed by theair-exposed surface oxidization process may be within a range from about5 Å to about 30 Å, such as from about 10 Å to about 25 Å, such as fromabout 15 Å to about 20 Å, for example, about 17 Å.

In another embodiment, cobalt oxide layer 230 may be formed by exposingcobalt stack 220 to an oxygen source gas during the surface oxidizationprocess, such as an oxygen-flash oxidization process at step 130. Anupper portion of cobalt stack 220, such as an upper surface of cobaltstack 220, may be exposed to the oxygen source gas at a processtemperature and for a predetermined time to form cobalt oxide layer 230.An exemplary oxygen source gas may contain oxygen (O₂), air,oxygen-enriched air, atomic-O, ozone (O₃), nitrous oxide (N₂O), nitricoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), dinitrogen tetroxide (N₂O₄), watervapor (H₂O), at least one carrier gas (e.g., N₂, Ar, or He), mixturesthereof, or combinations thereof. In one example, the oxygen source gascontains oxygen gas without a carrier gas or other diluting gas. Inanother example, the oxygen source gas contains oxygen gas within acarrier gas of nitrogen or argon, and the oxygen gas has a volumetricconcentration of the oxygen source gas within a range from about 5% toabout 95%, such as from about 50% to about 90%, for example, about 80%.

During the oxygen-flash oxidization process, the oxygen source gas,substrate 200, and/or cobalt stack 220 may be at a process temperaturewithin a range from about 20° C. to about 500° C., such as about 200° C.to about 500° C., such as from about 250° C. to about 350° C., such asabout 300° C. In some examples, cobalt stack 220 disposed on substrate200 may be exposed to the oxygen source gas during the oxygen-flashoxidization process at step 130 for a time period within a range fromabout 1 second to about 120 seconds, such as about 60 seconds or less,such as from about 1 second to about 60 seconds, such as from about 5seconds to about 60 seconds, or from about 5 seconds to about 20seconds, such as about 10 seconds. In other examples, cobalt stack 220disposed on substrate 200 may be exposed to the oxygen source gas duringthe oxygen-flash oxidization process at step 130 for a time periodwithin a range from about 1 minute to about 20 minutes, such as fromabout 2 minutes to about 15 minutes, such as from about 3 minutes toabout 10 minutes, or from about 4 minutes to about 8 minutes, forexample, about 5 minutes. The pressure within the processing chamberwhile conducting the oxygen-flash oxidization process during step 130may be less than 760 Torr, such as within a range from about 0.01 Torrto about 750 Torr, from about 0.1 Torr to about 100 Torr, for example,about 10 Torr. The thickness of cobalt oxide layer 230 formed by theoxygen-flash oxidization process may be within a range from about 3 Å toabout 30 Å, such as from about 4 Å to about 20 Å, such as from about 5 Åto about 15 Å, such as from about 7 Å to about 13 Å, for example, about10 Å.

In another embodiment, during step 140 of process 100, the remainingportion of cobalt stack 220, optionally containing cobalt oxide layer230 disposed thereon, may be heated to a crystallization temperature bya thermal annealing crystallization process to form crystalline cobaltfilm 240, as depicted in FIG. 2E. Cobalt stack 220 may be amorphous orcrystalline prior to step 140. However, the thermal annealingcrystallization process during step 140 either crystallizes or improvesthe crystallinity of the cobalt material contained within cobalt stack220 to form crystalline cobalt film 240. Cobalt oxide layer 230 disposedon cobalt stack 220 prevents or substantially prevents the agglomerationof the cobalt material within cobalt stack 220 during the thermalannealing crystallization process to form crystalline cobalt film 240.

In some examples, the processing chamber and/or cobalt stack 220disposed on or over substrate 200 may be heated to and/or maintained atthe crystallization temperature. The crystallization temperature may bemaintained within a range from about 200° C. to about 800° C., such asfrom about 250° C. to about 600° C. to form crystalline cobalt film 240from the remaining portion of cobalt stack 220 by the thermal annealingcrystallization process during step 140. In many examples, thecrystallization temperature may be about 500° C. or less, such as about450° C. or less, such as within a range from about 300° C. to about 500°C., such as from about 375° C. to about 425° C., such as from about 390°C. to about 420° C., for example, about 410° C. during the thermalannealing crystallization process.

The processing chamber and/or cobalt stack 220 disposed on or oversubstrate 200 may be heated and maintained at or near thecrystallization temperature during the thermal annealing crystallizationprocess for a time period within a range from about 5 minutes to about90 minutes, such as from about 5 minutes to about 60 minutes, such asfrom about 15 minutes to about 60 minutes, such as from about 20 minutesto about 40 minutes, for example, about 30 minutes. In some examples,the thermal annealing crystallization process may lasts for a timeperiod within a range from about 5 minutes to about 60 minutes atcrystallization temperature within a range from about 300° C. to about425° C. at step 140. In other examples, processing chamber and/or cobaltstack 220 disposed on or over substrate 200 may be heated for a timeperiod within a range from about 20 minutes to about 40 minutes atcrystallization temperature within a range from about 390° C. to about420° C.

In some examples, crystalline cobalt film 240 may be formed under areduced pressure environment, such as under a vacuum, during the thermalannealing crystallization process. In other examples, crystalline cobaltfilm 240 may be formed while exposed to a processing gas, such as anannealing gas, during the thermal annealing crystallization process.Processing gases or annealing gases and/or reagents may be exposed tosubstrate 200 containing cobalt stack 220 capped with cobalt oxide layer230 during the thermal annealing crystallization process. The processinggases, annealing gases, and/or other reagents may contain or includehydrogen gas (H₂), nitrogen gas (N₂), ammonia (NH₃), hydrazine (N₂H₄),diazene (N₂H₂), a hydrogen and ammonia mixture (H₂/NH₃), a hydrogen andargon mixture (H₂/Ar), helium, argon, neon, derivatives thereof, orcombinations thereof. The processing gas, such as an annealing gas, mayflow into the processing chamber or be exposed to substrate 200 duringthe thermal annealing crystallization process may have a flow ratewithin a range from about 100 sccm to about 10 slm, such as from about 1slm to about 6 slm, for example, about 3 slm.

In several examples, the remaining portion of cobalt stack 220 disposedon or over substrate 200, optionally containing cobalt oxide layer 230disposed thereon, may be exposed to a RTP process or a RTA process asthe thermal annealing crystallization process during step 140. Substrate200 containing cobalt stack 220 may be positioned within a processingchamber and exposed to at least one processing gas and/or reagent. Theprocessing chamber may be a deposition chamber that was used in a priordeposition process or may be used for a subsequent deposition process,such as a PVD chamber, a CVD chamber, or an ALD chamber. Alternatively,the processing chamber may be a thermal annealing chamber, such as theRADIANCE® RTA chamber, commercially available from Applied Materials,Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. Substrate 200 and cobalt oxide layer 230 maybe heated to a temperature within a range from about 200° C. to about800° C., such as from about 300° C. to about 600° C., such as from about350° C. to about 500° C., for example, about 400° C. Substrate 200 andcobalt oxide layer 230 may be heated for a time period within a rangefrom about 5 minutes to about 120 minutes, such as from about 10 minutesto about 60 minutes, such as from about 15 minutes to about 45 minutes,for example, about 30 minutes. Substrate 200 and cobalt oxide layer 230may be under a vacuum or reduced pressure environment within theprocessing/annealing chamber at a pressure of less than 760 Torr, suchas within a range from about 0.01 Torr to about 750 Torr, from about 0.1Torr to about 100 Torr, for example, about 10 Torr.

In some examples of the thermal annealing crystallization process,substrate 200 containing cobalt stack 220 capped with cobalt oxide layer230 may be heated to about 410° C., while under a vacuum pressure ofabout 100 Torr for about 30 minutes within the processing chamber atstep 140. In other examples, substrate 200 containing cobalt stack 220capped with cobalt oxide layer 230 may be heated to about 400° C. whilebeing exposed to hydrogen gas for about 30 minutes within the processingchamber to form crystalline cobalt film 240 from cobalt stack 220. Inother examples, substrate 200 containing cobalt stack 220 capped withcobalt oxide layer 230 may be heated to about 450° C. while beingexposed to argon or nitrogen gas for about 40 minutes within theprocessing chamber to form crystalline cobalt film 240.

Crystalline cobalt film 240 may have a thickness within a range fromabout 5 Å to about 1,000 Å or greater. In some examples, crystallinecobalt film 240 may have a thickness within a range from about 10 Å toabout 400 Å, such as from about 40 Å to about 200 Å, such as from about80 Å to about 120 Å, for example, about 100 Å. In other examples,crystalline cobalt film 240 may have a thickness within a range fromabout 400 Å to about 1,000 Å, such as from about 450 Å to about 750 Å,for example, about 600 Å.

Crystalline cobalt film 240 may have a carbon concentration of about 5at % or less, such as about 3 at % or less, such as about 2 at % orless, such as about 1 at % or less, for example, about 0.5 at % or less.In some examples, crystalline cobalt film 240 may have a carbonconcentration within a range from about 0.1 at % to about 3 at %, suchas from about 0.5 at % to about 3 at %, such as from about 0.5 at % toabout 2 at %. The resistivity of crystalline cobalt film 240 is lessthan 60 μΩ-cm, such as about 50 μΩ-cm or less, such as within a rangefrom about 5 μΩ-cm to about 50 μΩ-cm, such as from about 10 μΩ-cm toabout 50 μΩ-cm, such as from about 20 μΩ-cm to about 40 μΩ-cm, forexample, about 30 μΩ-cm. Crystalline cobalt film 240 may have athickness within a range from about 80 Å to about 120 Å and aresistivity within a range from about 20 μΩ-cm to about 40 μΩ-cm. Insome examples, crystalline cobalt film 240 may have a thickness athickness of about 100 Å and a resistivity of about 30 μΩ-cm. In otherexamples, crystalline cobalt film 240 may have a thickness within arange from about 450 Å to about 750 Å and a resistivity within a rangefrom about 5 μΩ-cm to about 20 μΩ-cm. In one example, crystalline cobaltfilm 240 may have a thickness of about 600 Å and a resistivity of about12 μΩ-cm.

The cobalt oxide material contained within cobalt oxide layer 230 is anelectrically conducting material, but usually has greater resistivity(e.g., about 1-10 Ω-cm) compared to the resistivity of metallic cobaltmaterial or cobalt stack 220 (e.g., about 20-40 μΩ-cm). In someembodiments, the resistivity of the cobalt oxide materials within cobaltoxide layer 230 is acceptable for certain applications including somehigh gate stack applications. Therefore, in some embodiments, contactfilm 280 may be directly deposited, plated, or otherwise formed on thesilicon oxide layer. However, in other applications, these cobalt oxidematerials may cause unacceptably high resistance. Therefore, in otherembodiments described herein, cobalt oxide layer 230 may be exposed toat least one treatment process or other process to remove, disrupt orinterrupt, breech, and/or otherwise break or separate, or to implant ordope the cobalt oxide material contained within cobalt oxide layer 230prior to depositing, plating, or otherwise forming contact film 280 onor over cobalt oxide layer 230.

In one embodiment, subsequent to step 140, step 150 may be conductedduring process 100. Step 150 includes exposing cobalt oxide layer 230 toa reducing agent or a reducing plasma (e.g., a hydrogen plasma) to formmetallic cobalt layer 250 from cobalt oxide layer 230. Thereafter,process 100 further includes forming contact film 280 on or overmetallic cobalt layer 250 during step 180, as depicted in FIGS. 2E and2G-2H. The reducing agent and/or reducing plasma may be exposed to thecobalt oxide materials contained within cobalt oxide layer 230. Thecobalt oxide material is chemically reduced to form metallic cobaltmaterials (e.g., metallic cobalt or cobalt alloys) such as containedwithin metallic cobalt layer 250. The cobalt oxide materials containedwithin cobalt oxide layer 230 may be exposed to reducing agents in theform or state of plasma, gas, fluid, liquid, or combinations thereof.Generally, the thickness of metallic cobalt layer 250 may be within arange from about 2 Å to about 20 Å, such as from about 3 Å to about 10Å, for example, about 5 Å.

In many examples, the processing gas containing the reducing agent iswithin a plasma to provide a reducing plasma. Reducing agents and/orreducing plasmas may also contain a carrier gas or a processing gas.Exemplary compounds that may be contained or used as reducing agentsand/or reducing plasmas during step 150 include hydrogen (e.g., H₂ oratomic-H), ammonia (NH₃), hydrazine (N₂H₄), diazene (N₂H₂), a hydrogenand ammonia mixture (H₂/NH₃), a hydrogen and argon mixture (H₂/Ar), ahydrogen and nitrogen mixture (H₂/N₂), borane (BH₃), diborane (B₂H₆),triethylborane (Et₃B), silane (SiH₄), disilane (Si₂H₆), trisilane(Si₃H₈), tetrasilane (Si₄H₁₀), methyl silane (SiCH₆), dimethylsilane(SiC₂H₈), phosphine (PH₃), nitrogen (e.g., N₂ or atomic-N), helium,argon, neon, derivatives thereof, plasmas thereof, or combinationsthereof. The processing gas may flow into the processing chamber or beexposed to substrate 200 having a flow rate within a range from about100 sccm to about 10 slm, such as from about 1 slm to about 6 slm, forexample, about 3 slm.

In one embodiment, cobalt oxide layer 230 disposed on crystalline cobaltfilm 250 contained on substrate 200 may be exposed to a reducing plasmaformed from a processing gas containing hydrogen gas as the reducingagent. Substrate 200 may be positioned within a processing chamber andcobalt oxide layer 230 may be exposed to the reducing plasma which isignited, generated, or otherwise formed from the processing gas. Theprocessing gas may contain one gaseous compound or multiple gaseouscompounds. Substrate 200 may be at ambient temperature or roomtemperature (about 18° C.-25° C., for example, about 23° C.), but isusually preheated to the desired temperature of the subsequentprocessing step. Substrate 200 may be heated to a temperature within arange from about 100° C. to about 400° C., such as from about 125° C. toabout 350° C., such as from about 150° C. to about 300° C., such asabout 200° C. or about 250° C.

A plasma may be generated external from the processing chamber, such asby a remote plasma source (RPS) system, or alternatively, the plasma maybe generated in situ a plasma capable deposition chamber, such as aPE-CVD chamber during a plasma treatment process. The plasma may begenerated from a microwave (MW) frequency plasma generator or a radiofrequency (RF) plasma generator. In one example, an in situ plasma isgenerated by an RF plasma generator. The processing chamber may bepressurized during the plasma treatment process at a pressure within arange from about 0.1 Torr to about 100 Torr, such as from about 0.5 Torrto about 50 Torr, such as from about 1 Torr to about 10 Torr. Also, theplasma chamber or substrate 200 may be heated to a temperature of lessthan about 500° C., preferably within a range from about 100° C. toabout 450° C., such as from about 150° C. to about 400° C., for example,about 300° C. In one embodiment, substrate 200 may be exposed to theplasma (e.g., in situ or remotely) for a time period within a range fromabout 20 seconds to about 10 minutes, such as from about 30 seconds toabout 5 minutes, such as from about 1 minute to about 3 minutes, forexample, about 2 minutes.

The RF plasma generator may be set at a frequency within a range fromabout 100 kHz to about 100 MHz. In one example, an RF plasma generator,with a frequency of 13.56 MHz, may be set to have a power output settingwithin a range from about 200 watts to about 1,200 watts, such as fromabout 250 watts to about 600 watts, such as from about 300 watts toabout 500 watts. In another example, a VHF RF plasma generator, with afrequency of 40 MHz, may be set to have a power output setting within arange from about 200 watts to about 2,000 watts, such as from about 500watts to about 1,500 watts, such as from about 800 watts to about 1,200watts, for example, about 1,000 watts. In another example, an RF plasmagenerator, with a frequency of 80 MHz, may be set to have a power outputsetting within a range from about 200 watts to about 2,000 watts, suchas from about 500 watts to about 1,500 watts, such as from about 800watts to about 1,200 watts, for example, about 1,000 watts. In anotherexample, an RF plasma generator, with a frequency of 350 kHz, may be setto have a power output setting within a range from about 200 watts toabout 2,000 watts, such as from about 500 watts to about 1,500 watts,such as from about 800 watts to about 1,200 watts, for example, about1,000 watts. A surface of substrate may be exposed to a plasma having apower per surface area value within a range from about 0.01 watts/cm² toabout 10.0 watts/cm², such as from about 0.05 watts/cm² to about 6.0watts/cm².

In many embodiments described herein, the plasma generated during theplasma treatment process, as well as during other plasma processes, isgenerated by a VHF RF plasma generator at a frequency of 40 MHz. SuchVHF plasma has been utilized to achieve many improvements over otherplasma treatment processes conducted with RF plasma at frequenciesoutside of the VHF range, such as at a frequency of 13.56 MHz. Theplasma-treated cobalt layers, cobalt stacks 220, crystalline cobaltfilms 240, metallic cobalt layers 250, and other materials formed byprocesses utilizing the VHF plasma as described herein have a reductionin resistivity, surface roughness, carbon content, and plasma damagerelative to similar materials formed by processes relying on RF plasmaat a frequency outside of the VHF range.

In some examples, cobalt oxide layer 230 contained on crystalline cobaltfilm 250 disposed on or over substrate 200 may be exposed to a hydrogenplasma generated from hydrogen gas ignited or otherwise formed by an RPSduring step 150 of process 100. Cobalt oxide layer 230 may be exposed tohydrogen gas with a flow rate within a range from about 2 slm to about 4slm. The processing chamber may have an internal pressure within a rangefrom about 1 Torr to about 10 Torr, and the plasma may be ignited,generated, or otherwise formed by an RPS with an RF plasma generatorhaving a frequency of 40 MHz and a power output setting within a rangefrom about 60 watts to about 2,000 watts, such as from about 300 wattsto about 500 watts or from about 300 watts to about 2,000 watts. In oneembodiment, cobalt oxide layer 230 may be exposed to the hydrogen plasmafor a time period within a range from about 20 seconds to about 5minutes, such as from about 1 minute to about 3 minutes. Multipletreatments or exposures to the hydrogen plasma may be performed duringstep 150.

In other examples, cobalt oxide layer 230 contained on crystallinecobalt film 250 disposed on or over substrate 200 may be exposed to areducing plasma generated within a processing chamber (e.g., an in situplasma) from hydrogen gas to form metallic cobalt layer 250 during step150 of process 100. The reducing plasma generated from hydrogen gas maybe formed by an RF plasma generator, with a frequency of 40 MHz, and mayhave a power output setting within a range from about 200 watts to about1,600 watts.

In other examples, cobalt oxide layer 230 contained on crystallinecobalt film 250 disposed on or over substrate 200 may be exposed to areducing plasma generated from a mixture of hydrogen gas and argon toform metallic cobalt layer 250. The reducing plasma generated from themixture of hydrogen gas and argon may be formed by an RF plasmagenerator, with a frequency of 40 MHz, and may have a power outputsetting within a range from about 200 watts to about 2,000 watts.

In other examples, cobalt oxide layer 230 contained on crystallinecobalt film 250 disposed on or over substrate 200 may be exposed to areducing plasma generated from a mixture of hydrogen gas and nitrogengas to form metallic cobalt layer 250. The reducing plasma generatedfrom the mixture of hydrogen gas and nitrogen gas may be formed by an RFplasma generator, with a frequency of 40 MHz, and may have a poweroutput setting within a range from about 200 watts to about 2,000 watts.

In other examples, cobalt oxide layer 230 contained on crystallinecobalt film 250 disposed on or over substrate 200 may be exposed to areducing plasma generated from a mixture of hydrogen gas and ammonia toform metallic cobalt layer 250. The reducing plasma generated from themixture of hydrogen gas and ammonia may be formed by an RF plasmagenerator, with a frequency of 40 MHz, and may have a power outputsetting within a range from about 200 watts to about 2,000 watts.

In other examples, cobalt oxide layer 230 contained on crystallinecobalt film 250 disposed on or over substrate 200 may be exposed to areducing plasma generated from a mixture of hydrogen, ammonia, andnitrogen to form metallic cobalt layer 250. The reducing plasmagenerated from the mixture of hydrogen, ammonia, and nitrogen may beformed by an RF plasma generator, with a frequency of 40 MHz, and mayhave a power output setting within a range from about 200 watts to about2,000 watts.

In another embodiment, subsequent to step 140, conductive metallic layer260 may be deposited, plated, or otherwise formed on or over cobaltoxide layer 230 disposed on crystalline cobalt film 240 in step 160 ofprocess 100. Subsequently, substrate 200 containing conductive metalliclayer 260 may be exposed to a thermal annealing process during step 170of process 100. During the thermal annealing process, the metal (e.g.,Al) contained within conductive metallic layer 260 is diffused orotherwise is dispersed into the cobalt oxide material of cobalt oxidelayer 230 and into the cobalt material of crystalline cobalt film 240.The resistivity of cobalt oxide layer 230 and the resistivity ofcrystalline cobalt film 240 are reduced due to the dispersed metalderived from conductive metallic layer 260. Thereafter, process 100includes conducting step 180 by depositing, plating, or otherwiseforming contact film 280 on or over any remaining conductive metalliclayer 260, cobalt oxide layer 230, doped variants of cobalt oxide layer230, crystalline cobalt film 240, and/or doped variants of crystallinecobalt film 240, as depicted in FIGS. 2E and 2I-2J.

Conductive metallic layer 260 containing the metal may be deposited,plated, or otherwise formed on or over cobalt oxide layer 230 disposedon crystalline cobalt film 240. The metal contained within conductivemetallic layer 260 may be aluminum, copper, aluminum-copper alloy,titanium, silver, gold, nickel, tungsten, molybdenum, alloys thereof, orcombinations thereof. In many examples, conductive metallic layer 260contains aluminum or an aluminum alloy. The thickness of conductivemetallic layer 260 is generally about 50 Å or less, such as within arange from about 2 Å to about 40 Å, such as from about 3 Å to about 20Å, such as from about 4 Å to about 15 Å, or from about 5 Å to about 10Å. Conductive metallic layer 260 may be deposited, plated, or formed byan ALD process, a PE-ALD process, a CVD process, a PE-CVD process, a PVDprocess, an electroless deposition process, an ECP process, or similartechniques.

In another embodiment, conductive metallic layer 260 may be heated to apredetermined temperature by a thermal annealing process while the metalinitially contained within conductive metallic layer 260 diffuses intocobalt oxide layer 230 and crystalline cobalt film 240 during step 170of process 100. The predetermined temperature of conductive metalliclayer 260 may be within a range from about 200° C. to about 800° C.,such as from about 250° C. to about 600° C., such as from about 300° C.to about 500° C. while diffusing the metal from conductive metalliclayer 260 and into crystalline cobalt film 240 by the thermal annealingprocess during step 170. During the thermal annealing process, theprocessing chamber and/or substrate 200 may be heated to a temperatureof less than about 500° C., preferably within a range from about 100° C.to about 450° C., such as from about 150° C. to about 400° C., forexample, about 300° C. In one embodiment, conductive metallic layer 260,cobalt oxide layer 230, and crystalline cobalt film 240 disposed on orover substrate 200 may be exposed to the thermal annealing processduring step 170. Generally, the thermal annealing process at step 170may last a time period within a range from about 20 seconds to about 10minutes, such as from about 30 seconds to about 5 minutes, such as fromabout 1 minute to about 3 minutes, for example, about 2 minutes.

Contact film 280 may contain one layer or multiple layers of at leastone conductive material and may be deposited or formed during a singledeposition process or multiple deposition processes during step 180, asdepicted in FIGS. 2F, 2H, and 2J. Contact film 280 may be deposited,plated, or otherwise formed on or over substrate 200 during one orseveral deposition processes during step 180. Contact film 280 may bedeposited, plated, or otherwise formed on or over cobalt oxide layer230, doped variants of cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobalt film240, doped variants of crystalline cobalt film 240, metallic cobaltlayer 250, conductive metallic layer 260, barrier layers, seed layers,nucleation layers, other layers, or combinations thereof. The conductivematerial of contact film 280 may contain a contact metal, such ascopper, tungsten, aluminum, copper-aluminum alloy, ruthenium, cobalt,silver, gold, platinum, palladium, alloys thereof, derivatives thereof,or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, contact film 280 may contain at least one seed layeror nucleation layer as well as at least one a fill layer or bulk layer.A seed layer formed as a portion of contact film 280 may be deposited,plated, or otherwise formed on or over cobalt oxide layer 230,crystalline cobalt film 240, metallic cobalt layer 250, or conductivemetallic layer 260 during one or several deposition processes duringstep 180. The seed layer, as a portion of contact film 280, may containa conductive metal, such as copper, tungsten, aluminum, ruthenium,cobalt, titanium, silver, platinum, palladium, alloys thereof,derivatives thereof, or combinations thereof. A bulk layer formed as aportion of contact film 280 may be deposited, plated, or otherwiseformed on or over the seed layer, cobalt oxide layer 230, crystallinecobalt film 240, metallic cobalt layer 250, or conductive metallic layer260 during one or several deposition processes during step 180. The bulklayer, as a portion of contact film 280, may contain copper, tungsten,aluminum, titanium, alloys thereof, derivatives thereof, or combinationsthereof. Usually, a seed layer and a bulk layer may independentlycontain copper, tungsten, aluminum, alloys thereof, derivatives thereof,or combinations thereof. A seed layer and a bulk layer may independentlybe deposited by using one or more deposition process, such as a CVDprocess, a PE-CVD process, an ALD process, a PE-ALD process, a PVDprocess, an electroless deposition process, an ECP process, derivativesthereof, or combinations thereof.

In one example, contact film 280 contains at least one seed layer and atleast one bulk layer and each layer independently contains copper or acopper alloy. For example, a seed layer containing copper may bedeposited on or over cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobalt film240, metallic cobalt layer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 by aPVD process and thereafter, a bulk layer containing copper may bedeposited to fill aperture 206 by an ECP process or an electrolessdeposition process. In another example, a seed layer containing coppermay be deposited on or over cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobaltfilm 240, metallic cobalt layer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 byan ALD process and thereafter, a bulk layer containing copper may bedeposited to fill aperture 206 by an ECP process or an electrolessdeposition process. In another example, a seed layer containing coppermay be deposited on or over cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobaltfilm 240, metallic cobalt layer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 bya CVD process and thereafter, a bulk layer containing copper may bedeposited to fill aperture 206 by an ECP process or an electrolessdeposition process. In another example, a seed layer containing coppermay be deposited on or over cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobaltfilm 240, metallic cobalt layer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 byan electroless process and thereafter, a bulk layer containing coppermay be deposited to fill aperture 206 by an ECP process or anelectroless deposition process. In another example, metallic cobaltlayer 250 or conductive metallic layer 260 serves as a seed layer towhich a bulk layer containing copper may be directly deposited to fillaperture 206 by an ECP process or an electroless deposition process.

In one example, each of a seed layer and a bulk layer contains tungstenor a tungsten alloy. For example, a seed layer containing tungsten maybe deposited on or over cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobalt film240, metallic cobalt layer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 by aPVD process and thereafter, a bulk layer containing tungsten may bedeposited to fill aperture 206 by a CVD process or a pulsed-CVD process.In another example, a seed layer containing tungsten may be deposited onor over cobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobalt film 240, metalliccobalt layer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 by an ALD process andthereafter, a bulk layer containing tungsten may be deposited to fillaperture 206 by a CVD process or a pulsed-CVD process. In anotherexample, a seed layer containing tungsten may be deposited on or overcobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobalt film 240, metallic cobaltlayer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 by a pulsed-CVD process andthereafter, a bulk layer containing tungsten may be deposited to fillaperture 206 by a CVD process or a pulsed-CVD process. In anotherexample, a seed layer containing tungsten may be deposited on or overcobalt oxide layer 230, crystalline cobalt film 240, metallic cobaltlayer 250, or conductive metallic layer 260 by an electroless processand thereafter, a bulk layer containing tungsten may be deposited tofill aperture 206 by a CVD process or a pulsed-CVD process. In anotherexample, metallic cobalt layer 250 or conductive metallic layer 260serves as a seed layer to which a bulk layer containing tungsten may bedirectly deposited to fill aperture 206 by a CVD process or a pulsed-CVDprocess.

An ALD processing chamber used during embodiments described herein isavailable from Applied Materials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif. Adetailed description of an ALD processing chamber may be found incommonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,878,206, 6,916,398, 7,682,946,7,780,785, and 7,850,779, which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety. In another embodiment, a chamber configured to operatein both an ALD mode as well as a conventional CVD mode may be used todeposit cobalt-containing materials is described in commonly assignedU.S. Pat. No. 7,204,886, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety. A detailed description of an ALD process for formingcobalt-containing materials is further disclosed in commonly assignedU.S. Pat. Nos. 7,264,846 and 7,404,985, which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety. In other embodiments, a chamber configuredto operate in both an ALD mode as well as a conventional CVD mode thatmay be used to deposit cobalt-containing materials is the TXZ®showerhead and CVD chamber available from Applied Materials, Inc.,located in Santa Clara, Calif. An example of a suitable vapor depositionchamber includes the WXZ™ CVD chamber, commercially available fromApplied Materials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif. The vapordeposition chamber may be adapted to deposit materials by conventionalCVD, pulsed-CVD, or PE-CVD techniques as well as by ALD and PE-ALDtechniques. Also, the vapor deposition chamber may be used as fortreatment processes, such as an in situ plasma process, a remote plasmaprocess, or a thermal annealing process.

“Substrate surface” or “substrate,” as used herein, refers to anysubstrate and/or material surface formed on a substrate upon which filmprocessing is performed during a fabrication process. For example, asubstrate or a substrate surface on which processing may be performedinclude, but not limited to, materials such as monocrystalline,polycrystalline or amorphous silicon, strained silicon, silicon oninsulator (SOI), doped silicon, silicon germanium, germanium, galliumarsenide, glass, sapphire, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, siliconoxynitride, and/or carbon doped silicon oxides, such as SiO_(x)C_(y),for example, BLACK DIAMOND® low-k dielectric, available from AppliedMaterials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif. Substrates may havevarious dimensions, such as 100 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm, or 450 mm diameterwafers, as well as, rectangular or square panes. Unless otherwise noted,embodiments and examples described herein are usually conducted onsubstrates with a 200 mm diameter or a 300 mm diameter, such as, a 300mm diameter. Processes of the embodiments described herein may be usedto deposit cobalt materials (e.g., metallic cobalt or cobalt alloys) onmany substrates and surfaces, especially, metallic layers, nitridelayers, barrier layers, oxide layers, and other various layers.Substrates on which embodiments of the invention may be useful include,but are not limited to semiconductor wafers, such as crystalline silicon(e.g., Si<100> or Si<111>), silicon oxide, strained silicon, silicongermanium, doped or undoped polysilicon, doped or undoped siliconwafers, and patterned or non-patterned wafers. Substrates may be exposedto a pre-treatment process to polish, etch, reduce, oxidize,hydroxylate, heat, and/or anneal the substrate or substrate surface.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the invention, otherand further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof isdetermined by the claims that follow.

1. A method for depositing materials on a substrate surface, comprising:forming a cobalt stack over a barrier layer disposed on a substrate by:depositing a cobalt layer during a deposition process; exposing thecobalt layer to a plasma to form a plasma-treated cobalt layer during aplasma process; and repeating the deposition process and the plasmaprocess to form the cobalt stack comprising a plurality ofplasma-treated cobalt layers; exposing the cobalt stack to an oxygensource gas to form a cobalt oxide layer from an upper portion of thecobalt stack during a surface oxidation process; and heating the cobaltstack to a crystallization temperature within a range from about 300° C.to about 500° C. to form a crystalline cobalt film from the cobalt stackduring a thermal annealing crystallization process.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the cobalt stack comprises a carbon concentration ofabout 3 at % or less.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the cobalt stackhas a thickness within a range from about 80 Å to about 120 Å and has aresistivity within a range from about 20 μΩ-cm to about 40 μΩ-cm.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the cobalt stack has a thickness within arange from about 450 Å to about 750 Å and has a resistivity within arange from about 5 μΩ-cm to about 20 μΩ-cm.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers within the cobaltstack contains at least 3 plasma-treated cobalt layers and up to about30 plasma-treated cobalt layers.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thecrystallization temperature is within a range from about 300° C. toabout 425° C. for a time period within a range from about 5 minutes toabout 60 minutes during the thermal annealing crystallization process.7. The method of claim 1, wherein the cobalt oxide layer is disposed onthe cobalt stack and has a thickness within a range from about 5 Å toabout 30 Å.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is heated toa temperature within a range from about 20° C. to about 500° C. for atime period of about 60 seconds or less during the surface oxidationprocess.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the temperature is within arange from about 250° C. to about 350° C. and the time period is withina range from about 5 seconds to about 60 seconds during the surfaceoxidation process.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein each cobalt layeris deposited from a deposition gas comprising a cobalt source gas andhydrogen gas (H₂) during a thermal chemical vapor deposition process.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the cobalt source gas is dicobalthexacarbonyl butylacetylene (CCTBA).
 12. The method of claim 1, whereineach cobalt layer is exposed to the plasma to form each plasma-treatedcobalt layer during the plasma process, and the plasma comprises areagent selected from the group consisting of ammonia (NH₃), hydrogen(H₂), an ammonia/hydrogen mixture, derivatives thereof, and combinationsthereof.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein each cobalt layer isexposed to a hydrogen plasma for a time period within a range from about10 seconds to about 180 seconds.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising exposing the cobalt oxide layer to a hydrogen plasma to formmetallic cobalt layer from the crystalline cobalt film.
 15. The methodof claim 1, further comprising depositing a conductive metallic layercomprising a metal on the cobalt oxide layer and thereafter, heating thesubstrate to diffuse the metal of the conductive metallic layer into thecobalt oxide layer and the crystalline cobalt film.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising forming a contact film disposed over thecobalt oxide layer, wherein the contact film comprises at least oneconductive material and the conductive material comprises a contactmetal selected from the group consisting of copper, aluminum, tungsten,titanium, alloys thereof, and combinations thereof.
 17. A method fordepositing materials on a substrate surface, comprising: forming acobalt stack comprising a plurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers overa barrier layer disposed on a substrate by sequentially depositing andtreating cobalt layers, wherein each cobalt layer is deposited from adeposition gas comprising a cobalt source gas and hydrogen gas (H₂)during a thermal chemical vapor deposition process and subsequentlyexposed to a plasma to form each of the plasma-treated cobalt layersduring a plasma process; exposing the cobalt stack to an oxygen sourcegas to form a cobalt oxide layer during a surface oxidation process; andheating the cobalt stack to a crystallization temperature to form acrystalline cobalt film during a thermal annealing crystallizationprocess.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the crystallizationtemperature is within a range from about 300° C. to about 500° C. duringthe thermal annealing crystallization process.
 19. A method fordepositing materials on a substrate surface, comprising: forming acobalt stack over a barrier layer disposed on a substrate by: depositinga cobalt layer during a deposition process; exposing the cobalt layer toa plasma to form a plasma-treated cobalt layer during a plasma process;and repeating the deposition process and the plasma process to form thecobalt stack comprising a plurality of plasma-treated cobalt layers;exposing the cobalt stack to an oxygen source gas to form a cobalt oxidelayer during a surface oxidation process, wherein the cobalt oxide layerhas a thickness within a range from about 5 Å to about 30 Å, and thesubstrate is heated to a temperature within a range from about 200° C.to about 500° C. for a time period of about 60 seconds or less duringthe surface oxidation process; heating the cobalt stack to acrystallization temperature to form a crystalline cobalt film during athermal annealing crystallization process; depositing a conductivemetallic layer on the crystalline cobalt film, wherein the metal of theconductive metallic layer comprises a metal selected from the groupconsisting of aluminum, copper, titanium, alloys thereof, andcombinations thereof; and heating the substrate while diffusing themetal of the conductive metallic layer into the crystalline cobalt film.20. The method of claim 19, wherein the thickness of the cobalt oxidelayer is within a range from about 10 Å to about 20 Å, the temperatureis within a range from about 250° C. to about 350° C., and the timeperiod is within a range from about 5 seconds to about 60 seconds duringthe surface oxidation process.